Velozes & Furiosos 8

Fast & Furious saga it's funny. We'll travel by fantastic places, we'll see again characters, we'll see fantastic cars, we'll listen music, we'll have new ideas about family. Movie is colorful, plenty of action, new challenges, new characters, new connections.. I enjoyed, My family enjoyed too. If you like last movies, this will not be exception.

The Fast and Furious franchise consistently encompasses a very specific aesthetic and vibe, which results in the films mainly targeting and entertaining the viewers who grew fond of the series (even if it was only for "the family", the cars, and the action) and decided to stick around.

The Fast and Furious is a surprisingly intriguing franchise. When asked what the best film of the series is, I believe the majority would vouch for Furious 7 or Fast 5. How is that possible? Is it because the series started out as "just okay" and by the time Fast 5 came out, it had finetuned everything into a solid action movie?

The answer is no. The first three entries in this series are mostly character-driven (yes, pun intended) expositions. It's not about the racing per se (except for Tokyo Drift, perhaps), it's about the characters. In other reviews, the comparison with a soap opera emerges, which is actually quite an apt description of the series allure. The characters have entertaining, albeit cheesy, chemistry, and it is even more satisfying to see this in the context of the many adventures that they have, alone or together. That is why 2 Fast 2 Furious and Tokyo Drift are still fun to watch, even though not all the characters are there.

The first film introduces the characters and not much more. It's Brian's -and the viewers'-welcome into the family. 2 Fast 2 Furious has Roman and Brian teaming up, which is just fun and entertaining. Tokyo Drift thrives solely on the humour and drifting, and adds a dash of mystery by not being the chronological third part of the franchise. In Fast & Furious 4, the viewers receive what they asked for, which is just more of the first film's family back together again. It does a fun job at that, but this film is mainly preparing the audience for Fast 5, which is known as the heist film. More over-the-top action, even more emphasis on family, more cars, and more cheesy humour. More of what we've already seen, but this time the story is quite solid, as well. Plus, you know, it has Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Fast & Furious 6 and Furious 7 continue this successful formula and prove that the heist or a solid story are not obligatory for this blockbuster series to work. Just add more laws-of-nature-defying stunts, more cars, more awesomely stupid action sequences, more one-liners, and more family. That is all it takes to satisfy the fans at this point. And here's the beauty: the film makers behind this franchise know exactly what their audience has come to expect and gives them precisely what they love. That self-awareness is what eliminates the bad from the cringey.

The Fate of the Furious is yet another pile of Fast and Furious' beautifully self-aware, action-packed nonsense. And for me, that is what makes it so enjoyable. I can just grab a beer, grab some friends, sit back, pay very little attention to the dialogue, get a refill in between action sequences, and enjoy this film. I hope you can, too, but I can most definitely understand if you don't buy into the hype, as well.

What started as racing franchise has now shifted gear into a mix of old James Bond flick and shade of Marvel blockbuster. It may feel zealously exaggerated, and with high level of adrenaline and testosterone, it is indeed excessive. However, fueled by staggering amount of star power and crowd pleasing scenes, it's undoubtedly s fantastic spectacle.

Story doesn't veer much from the already established formula, another new threat that tries to divide and conquer, giving ample opportunities for the myriad of action heroes to fight, as well as collaborate, with each other. For the better parts, this works in creating a minimal drama even though there's bound to be slight disbelief concerning the plot, or just disregard of simple physic in general.

The script consists of war cries from video games and old school banters from decades ago. It's not without the humor and charm, it might even be distracting if they sound too flamboyant seeing the action is downright the stuff of superhero movie. There's the same amount of fists thrown and flying cars, and any other unbelievable shenanigans in between, in glorious slow motion and less glorious CGI.

It's nearly infectious in the delivery, almost looking like collection of scenes deemed to be too absurd and until now was buried in action movie vault yet they are so gleefully pompous, one can't help being dragged around by its pace. The action stars collide in battle royale style, even if one scraps all the other parts of the movie, there's an inevitable hook in the concept of The Rock, Vin Diesel and Jason Statham trading actual and verbal jabs.

It also helps that choreography for fights look convincingly fast and brutal enough to suit each character. The transition between grand locations, or towards another scuffle, is accompanied by good cinematography and equally vibrating soundtracks. While it may screech towards certain parts, the actors contribute in their own way, either it through surprisingly good acting or fitting humor.

There's enough in the production tank to keep the excitement rolling. Sure, it can be campy at times, but there's no denying that it's a high velocity spectacular action entertainment.

The F&F franchise has turned into The Expendables with cars, and like the last film, it gladly embraces its absurd plot and over-the-top action set pieces. It starts off with Dom on his honeymoon in Cuba where he is interrupted by a mysterious woman called 'Cipher' played by Charlize Theron. She forces him to turn against his team in order to do a series of jobs for her taking him from New York to Russia. Theron fits the role perfectly, she is menacing, seductive and manipulative and could play a perfect Bond villain.

Just as it threatens to be gloomy, there is some laughs to be had. Dwayne Johnson and the Stath have a good taunting scene where they shout puns at each from their prison cells. But yet again Tyrese Gibson gives us his best improv yet as he constantly pokes fun at everyone including new comer Scott Eastwood. Director F Gray (new comer to the series) has to deal with a lot of characters here. But he still manages to give them some sort of story arc and does a good job at keeping them interesting. Hobbs coaches his daughters football team in his spare time, there's a love triangle going on between Tejj, Roman and Ramsey. Then there's Letty who is trying to figure out why Dom has betrayed them and Jason Stathams villain from the last film is on a path of redemption.

Another thing that the franchise does so well is give us some breathtaking stunts with minimal CGI (only when needed). The film doesn't disappoint, some of the standout moments include vehicles being flipped left right and centre, cars being driven out of a buildings, an opening race sequence and wrecking ball scene to name a few. However its not perfect, there is a lot of pointless exposition dialogue to keep us up to date with what is going on. Plot device 'Gods Eye' from Furious 7 comes back which is used against the team. One scene involving Dom hiding from 'Gods Eye' so he can have a cuppa with Helen Mirren is laughable. The laws of physics are non existent of course (but its not a documentary) and it is the most implausible entry of the series yet.

Nitpicking aside, don't go into F8 expecting any realism or logic because there is none of it here. Just turn your brain off because its more brawn than brain. Like its predecessors, its filled with exciting, over the top, adrenaline fuelled action thrills; and there's enough harpoon guns to give Batman a run for his money. Just go into it with an open mind and you will enjoy it a lot more, its a great time at the cinema.

I'm not really a fan of the "Fast And The Furious" movies, having only seen about two of them before watching this one. I have still noticed they have become better with most new entries. I admit this wasn't as good as "Fast Five" but it's still a good movie. It's hard to get used to a new franchise especially one with so many characters in it. Still, I recognized most of the actors which is good enough for me. Anyway, of the ones that I have seen, this is the most insane and ludicrous of them all. Well, it makes sense as it literally has Ludicrous in it. This film features Dom (Vin Diesel) being forced to help a villain named Cipher or else she'll kill his family.

Cipher's plan is to gain access to nuclear launch codes to well, cause a massive war. Yeah, it's pretty over the top even for this franchise and it does seem like the series is changing to a traditional James Bond movie. Still, the action scenes in this movie are tons of fun and the characters are interesting enough to keep you hooked into the story. I admit a lot of it gets really silly and it can be predictable, but I mean, this is just a great movie to watch for the awesome and quite creative action scenes. Unlike the "Transformers" movies which became repetitive, these films have found new and innovative ways to entertain viewers. ***